Sherlock: 20 Easter Eggs, In-Jokes And References
6. William Sherlock Scott Holmes
In an episode that also revealed Marys true character and the (possible) resurrection of Moriarty, one of the less important revelations in His Last Vow was that Sherlock isnt actually the detectives first name. His full name is William Sherlock Scott Holmes.
In case you hadnt believed them by now, Moffat and Gatiss really proved how well they know their stuff with this one. The full name doesnt actually come from the original stories, rather a fictional biography written on the character in 1962, Sherlock Holmes Of Baker Street: A Life Of The Worlds First Consulting Detective by William S Baring-Gould.
In the same scene, Sherlock also mentions a tale Mycroft terrified him with as a child: that of the east wind that would one day come to take him away. This is a reference to a patriotic speech in His Last Bow, a story written during the First World War:
"There's an east wind coming such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less, and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared."